Food & Writing Sites for January 2025
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Every year, as we replace the calendar, certain rituals are re-enacted: we’re not talking about not the New Year’s Resolution (about which the less said, the less embarrassment results from our failures to live up), nor the annual recap of the passing year’s events. We’ll also skip over the morbid lists of departed movie stars.
You’re welcome.
The format of stories that strike us, at this time of year are listicles (a delightful word that has only been around since 2007)—preferably about food and drink. You know: “top 100 snack foods,” or “10 favorite condiments you MUST have in your fridge,” or “52 essential pantry items, one for each week.”
Never one to risk bucking tradition (at least when it’s so easy to comply), we’re including a few listicles in this New Year’s edition. As a public service, there’s also a link to one website that might be especially à propos for the first morning of January,
Since this newsletter began, over twenty years ago, we’ve called it “food sites.” Because it was meant for food writers, we added various writing resources—because they seemed useful. So many of them have been added, especially lately, that it’s only reasonable to change the title to “food & writing sites.”
While procrastinating (avoiding work on our own books-in-progress—and editing another for someone else), we’ve somehow been able to post several new Substack pages:
“The Golden Years”—when the spirit, but not the flesh, is willing;
“Italianate”—on being Italian, without any Italian blood;
“Holiday Angst”—an attempt to add levity to a stress-filled occasion;
“Embarrassment,” a tale of teenage wasteland (or waistline);
“Is ‘Risque’ just French for Risky Business?”—one way to find oneself married…;
“Effluent in at Least One Language,” on the unexpected connection between literary and renal production;
and
“On Unlikability,” some relief from excessive holiday bonhomie.
Candy cane season has arrived, which probably explains why we were briefly interviewed for an episode of Gastropod (on “The Curiously Strong Story of Mint”).
You can, should you choose to, follow us on Facebook (where, among other things, we post a lot of photographs) and Twitter. Still more of our online scribbles can be found at A Quiet Little Table in the Corner and other Substack pages. There’s even an Amazon author’s page, that includes food writing and anything else we manage to get into print.
As is our wont, we include some seasonal quotations (Found in On the Table’s culinary quote collection):
Alcohol is the prince of liquids and carries the palate to its highest pitch of exaltation. Brillat-Savarin
All animals are strictly dry,
They sinless live and swiftly die.
But sinful, ginful, rum-soaked men
Survive three score years and ten.
And some of us—though mighty few—
Survive until we’re ninety-two. Anonymous
Alcohol is a misunderstood vitamin. P.G. Wodehouse
Gary
January 2025
PS: If you encounter broken links, changed URLs—or know of wonderful sites we’ve missed—please drop us a line. It helps to keep this resource as useful as possible for all of us. To those who have pointed out corrections or tasty sites (this month we’re tipping our virtual hat to Cynthia D. Bertelsen—thanks, and keep them coming!
PPS: If you wish to change the e-mail address at which you receive these newsletters, or otherwise modify the way you receive our postings or—if you’ve received this newsletter by mistake, and/or don’t wish to receive future issues—you have our sincere apology and can have your e-mail address deleted from the list immediately. We’re happy (and continuously amazed) that so few people have decided to leave the list but, should you choose to be one of them, let us know and we’ll see that your in-box is never afflicted by these updates again.
— the new sites —
Do Ancient Hangover Cures Still Stand Up?
(Benjamin Taub reports, in IFLScience, on efforts by Alcohol Hangover Research Group to find answer)
Here’s What Bologna Actually Is (and Other Facts that Might Surprise You)
(Jacob Smith reveals the mystery meat in The Daily Meal)
History of Eleanor Roosevelt's Pecan Pie, A
(from Sarah Wassberg Johnson’s blog, The Food Historian)
How Fish and Chips Migrated to Great Britain
(Abbey Perreault wraps in newspaper—virtual newspaper, AKA Gastro Obscura)
In 1814, London Was Terrorized by a 320,000-Gallon Tsunami of Beer
(Rachel Funnell reports, in IFLSCIENCE, on an incident that sounds like a frat party gone amok)
Most Important People in Nightlife & Dining, The
(The Observer’s list of the most influential restaurant creators: investors, architects, and even some chefs)
Secret History of Risotto, The
(Anthony Lane’s New Yorker article warns, “culinary writing threatens to become a branch of moral philosophy, and a severe one at that…”)
Should You Avoid Alcohol If You’re Taking Antibiotics?
(according to Laura Simmons, at IFLScience, the answer is mostly “yes”)
(everything on the genus Cucurbita, c/o The Botanist in the Kitchen)
Strange Thing That Is Lutefisk, The
(and no, it’s not a Lutheran joke)
(answers from Martha Stewart)
What Sets a Farmhouse Ale Apart From Regular Beer?
(Takeout’s Carla Vaisman explains the difference… and it’s wild)
— inspirational (or otherwise useful) sites for writers/bloggers —
6 Best Apps to Find Bars and Restaurants While Traveling, The
25 Most Important Recipes of the Past 100 Years
Baked Alaska Has New York Roots
Brief Meditation on Written Recipes, A
“First Catch Your Hare”: Part I
“To the Queen’s Taste”: Part III
Did the Real General Tso Have Anything to Do with the Beloved Chicken Dish?
Different Names for Popular Wine Grapes Around the World, The
Does Cheese Really Give You Bad or More Vivid Dreams?
How Do I Become a Food Historian?
How Exactly Did Pound Cake Get Its Name?
I’m a Waiter and I Say It’s Totally Fine to Order a Few Appetizers as Your Entrée
Is the Five-second Rule True? Don’t Push Your Luck.
ISSUE 93, REFLECTIONS, Part 2: Taste
Part 6: Practical Thoughts upon the Revival of Landrace Grains and Heirloom Vegetables.
Ladies of the Pen and the Cookpot: Isabella Beeton
Part I
Part II
Learning to Make the World’s Rarest Pasta
Michèle Roberts: The Art of Writing a Cookbook
Most Diners Want to Keep Tech Out of Restaurants, Report Finds
On Claiming My Identity as a Writer
On Turning Down the Volume to Hear Your Own Voice
Preserving and Sharing Food Stories
Today’s Poem: Recipe for a Salad
What’s Wrong With White Bread?
Why Has My Chocolate Turned White, and Is It Still OK to Eat?
World’s First Soda Brand Is Still Around Today, The
— podcasts, etcetera —•
100 Proof: Journey of the American Cocktail
Case of the Confusing Bitter Beverages, The
Six of the World’s Most Unique Restaurants
Wine 101: Wine and Climate Change Part I: An Overview
— that’s all for now —
Except, of course, for the usual legalistic mumbo-jumbo and commercial flim-flam:
As an Amazon Associate, this newsletter earns from qualifying purchases made through it. These include our own books (listed below), and occasional books mentioned in the entries above. If you order anything via those links, the price you pay is not increased by our commission.
Occasionally, URLs we provide may take you to commercial sites (that is, they’ll cost you money to take full advantage of them), or publications that have paywalls. We do not receive any compensation for listing them here and are providing them without any form of recommendation—other than the fact that they looked interesting to us.
Your privacy is important to us. We will not give, sell or share your e-mail address with anyone, for any purpose. Ever. Nonetheless, we will expose you to the following irredeemably brazen plugs for our own books:
The Resource Guide for Food Writers
(Hardcover)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
(newsletters like this merely update the contents of the book; what doesn’t appear here is already in the book)
The Herbalist in the Kitchen
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food And Drink Industries
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Human Cuisine
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Herbs: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sausage: A Global History
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Can It! The Perils and Pleasures of Preserving Foods
(Hardcover)
(Kindle)
Sauces Reconsidered: Après Escoffier
Terms of Vegery
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Serve Man:
On Cannibalism, Sex, Sacrifice, & the Nature of Eating
(Paper)
(Kindle)
How to Write a Great Book
The Digressions of Dr Sanscravat: Gastronomical Ramblings & Other Diversions
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Ephemera: a short collection of short stories
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Prophet Amidst Losses
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Future Tense: Remembrance of Things Not Yet Past
(Paper)
(Kindle)
The Backstories: As retold by Gary Allen
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Tabula Rasa, Baby: (Not Written in Stone)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Unbelievable: A Modern Novella (the Extended Edition)
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Noirvella: The Extended Edition
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Hot Hot Hot/Risky Business
(Paper)
(Kindle)
The Long & Short of It: A Miscellany
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Beer Taste & Other Disorders
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Galloping Gourmand: A Culinary Collection
(Paper)
(Kindle)
Substack Lightnin’: Volume One, The First Year
Substack Lightnin’: Volume Two, Second Year
Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...
...for the moment, anyway.
______________
The Resource Guide for Food Writers, Update #291 is protected by copyright and is provided at no cost, for your personal use only. It may not be copied or retransmitted unless this notice remains affixed. Any other form of republication—unless with the author’s prior written permission—is strictly prohibited.
As the author of this page—being a real living person—I have not used AI for any purpose (beyond routine spellcheck). Nor do I permit the use of any of its content for training of AI systems, or in the generation of AI content.
Copyright ©2024 by Gary Allen.
1 Comments:
Thank you Gary, as always! I've been a reader of yours for a very long time & love your unique perspectives and call outs for so much good writing. I agree with your offering a link to Cynthia Bertelsen (Gherkins & Tomatoes)--her list of good culinary memoirs is really terrific. Here's to more intriguing discoveries & reading in 2025!
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